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American Northern Army
The American Northern Army (ANA) is a military coalition of many different groups in the Badlands Territory, both in North Dakota and South Dakota. The different factions inside the American Northern Army are diverse and have their own internal problems, but they are ultimately united against the various threats of the Territory. History Origins The American Northern Army's origins date back to one point: the beginnings of the Great Raider Wars. Civilized groups in North Dakota and South Dakota had finally begun to emerge from the shadow of the Great War and create their own civilizations, in Tall Town and Deadwood specifically. This upset the raiders of the area, who knew they would not be able to survive if any semblance of order was restored. So, the raiders of the Badlands Territory began their great offensive against civilized man, the Great Raider Wars, in 2238. The raiders, together in a sort of temporary alliance, began viciously raidinf settlements, with towns in North Dakota taking the brunt of the attacks. Villages like Little Grande and Spittle were sacked or massacred while larger settlements such as Tall Town and Belfield were safe from direct attack but had their trade cut off and their farms burned. In Tall Town in 2250, the New-Merican Society was feeling the choke of the Great Raider Wars especially hard. Public opinion of the Society was dipping as their opinions on the continued fight against raiding and maintaining slavery were becoming very unattractive to the average man. They needed something to respark patriotism. The Society's president, Circe Birch, saw such an oppurtunity in the Plains Militia of Belfield. Why not create a larger alliance to fight the raiders and restore the public's faith in them? Many in the Society saw problems in this plan but neglected to point them out, as this was coming from their president. The head of the New-Merican Milita and several members of the Society went to Belfield to try to negotiate the Plains Militia into some kind of an alliance or a union. The town's mayor and the militia's "General" were adamantly against any type of alliance, but others convinced the common people otherwise, and an alliance was negotiated. Signatures were attached to a document, and the creation of the army was announced the next day. The head of the New-Merican Militia, Edgar Phyllis, was made the General of this new army, to the disappointment with the former General of the Plains Militia, Patricia Barns, becoming a Brigadier General. In the first months, there was no new name for this new alliance. After much deliberation, the alliance was named the American Northern Army in early 2251. The first ANA flag, inspired by the stripes on the American flag, was created later the same year. The Great Raider Wars After the American Northern Army's creation, the ANA went straight to work fighting the Great Raider Wars against the various raiders of the Badlands Territory. The largest and most dangerous raiders in the area, the notorious Motorhead Gang, was continually hounded by the American Northern Army until they were defeated in a battle at their camp in 2253. Many raiders such as the Wilson Gang saw this as a sign and left North Dakota while others like the Sons of Bismarck tried to hold out against this new enemy. By 2254, the Great Raider Wars had come to an end. Raiders either had stopped their large scale attacks and resorted to smaller stuff or had left the area or had fled south. On May 8, 2254, after a particularly satisfying victory over the Sons of Bismarck, General Phyllis assessed that the Great Raider Wars were over and declared in the next day. Celebrations occured from Belfield to Tall Town over this announcement. This was, of course, ignorant of the fighting going on in South Dakota but that was no concern of the American Northern Army (at least for the moment). Southern Tensions After the conclusion of the Great Raider Wars, there was a period of positivity among the ANA. The success of cooperation between the New-Merican Society and the Plains Militia gave hope to many of a united, peaceful land, akin to the New-Merican Society's mystical "Merica". The ANA stayed a strong force in Belfield and Tall Town, keeping the area secure from remaining raider groups. In 2256, many people started wanting to just join the American Northern Army, not one of its united groups. This was seen as alarming and was shot down by both the Plains Militia and the New-Merican Society. Soon enough, the ANA began focusing on expansion. In 2256, the American Northern Army discovered the Badlands Roughriders, centered in Williston. Seeing an oppurtunity to expand, overtures were made to the Roughriders offering membership in the ANA. These first overtures were refused, but the ANA refused to give up. In 2257, patrols near Williston were intentionally ramped up to show the security that the ANA could bring. This strategy was criticized as short sighted by many, as it was seen as a useless diversion of resources and possibly antagonizing to the Roughriders. However, this turned out to work out when a ANA patrol, led by the then Sergeant Major Marchs Williams, rescued a large group of Badlands Roughriders from raiders in a battle that became known as Logan's Folly, the name of the Roughriders' slain general. After the battle, the grateful Roughriders were happy to join the ANA, though on their own terms. The Badlands Roughriders were given a special place in the ANA, with their own General and command structure. It was at this time in late 2257 that the Armies of the West and East were created, under the command of their respective generals. The ANA was also modified to fit the now three groups inside the organization. In the late 2250s however, funding and interest in the American Northern Army began to drop, as the ANA now had no real defined goal or enemy. Their towns were safe but ungrateful. This attitude of indifference caused funding for the ANA to decline slowly and as this happened, raiders began to creep back into lands they were once forced out of. This was only reversed in 2260, when the ANA in Tall Town was shocked to be met with met with emissaries from two groups from the south: Custer's American Army and the Dakota Regulators. The two groups were enemies and hoped to gain the ANA's support or perhaps even an alliance. Negotiations were neutral at first but the New-Merican Society soon screwed up everything, accusing Custer of being a delusional dictator and just being jerks in general to the diplomats from Custer's American Army. The Dakota Regulators were given a wider berth by the ANA but were not allowed to join yet, as many feared a war with Custer if they did. Others cared less for this and many in the New-Merican Society became War Hawks, encouraging the Dakota Regulators to join and for the ANA to go to war. When the Dakota Regulators actually joined the ANA in 2261, the entire Army of the East mobilized and readied to march south. Raiders in North Dakota were cleared out as a show of force. However, Custer was intimidated by the ANA and decided against a war. Although the ANA leadership saw this a successful aversion of a potentially bloody war, many rank in file men, especially members of the ANA, saw an anticlimax and others cried cowardice. In 2262, the ANA, especially the northern part, had become passive once again. The Lull After the brief period of tensions with Custer's American Army, a lull in activity fell upon the American Northern Army from 2262 to 2280, at least in the north. The ANA in the north mostly resorted to staving off raiders and looking threatening. The only major event in the north was the renaming of the Army of East to the Army of the North. One group still active was Renner's Raiders, an elite squad from the north that was sent south. This was to assist the newly formed Army of the South (the Dakota Regulators a s other local militias) in their perpetual fight to take/cleanup the ruins of Rapid City. These operations were mostly against mutants, slavers, and raiders, but in the 2270s, the Army of the South and Renner's Raiders were coming into conflict with Custer's American Army in alarming frequency. This came to a head in 2276 when Custer's American Army took over Vault 52, an abandoned vault that lay squarely within ANA territory. Not wanting to provoke a war, Sergeant Tom Renner decided to attack the vault with just the Raiders (disguised) with the support of the Rockers as mercenaries. The Battle of Vault 52 was quick but decisive. Renner's Raiders and the Rockers went into Vault 52, massacred the entire garrison there, and torched the place. This move alarmed Custer, but he did not suspect the ANA of any wrongdoing, at least at that moment. The War of the Generals Organization The American Northern Army is organized into three major groups, the Army of the North centered in Tall Town, the Army of the South centered in Rapid Valley, and the Army of the West centered in Williston. A few subgroups like Renner's Raiders interact between the armies, but this is a rarity. The Army of the North (formerly known as the Army of the East) is the larger, more formal of the three. Led by decorated General Marcus Williams, a member of the New-Merican Society, the Army of the North has a efficient supply train that allows it to remain in the field and occupy captured positions much longer. The Army of the South, led by Dakota Regulator General Paula Hopper, is smaller but more tightly organized. Centered around Rapid City, the Army of the South rarely leaves the city and mostly focuses it ls efforts on securing the Rapid City area. The Army of the West, led by General Jonathan Byrd, is the smallest Army, consisting of just the Badlands Roughriders and one or two other small groups. However, the Army of the South is very mobile and adept at fighting raiders. Culture The American Northern Army is quite culturally diverse, since it is made up of many different military groups and settlements. However, the almost universal feature of American Northern Army is the presence of a martial culture, the result of generations of battling Indians, raiders, and mutants. Currently, there are two divisive issues dividing the American Northern Army: mutation and slavery. The issues are not deal breakers at the moment since everyone is suffering together so to speak. However, these issues will eventually have to come to a head. The northern part of Army, led by the New-Merican Society and supported by the Badlands Roughriders and Plains Miltia, holds a pro-mutant, pro-slavery culture as a result of the New-Mericans "free" culture. The southern part of the Army, led by the former Dakota Regulators, is anti-mutant, anti-slavery because of the Regulators lasting resentment of slavers and mutants in the ruins of Rapid City. Equipment The equipment of the American Northern Army is varied among different groups of the coalition. However, their most common equipment is from the New-Merican Society, who in turn gets their equipment from Smithsforge. The standard ranged weapon of the American Northern Army is the service rifle, a knockoff of a gun from the west. They also use a variety of other weapons manufactured in Smithsforge and Tall Town, including the .45 auto submachine gun and 10mm pistol. The ANA also uses pre-war weapons if they are in well enough condition. The American Northern Army has no standard uniform, but their most common is a ANA variation on military fatigues. Notable Groups (over fifty members) Army of the North *New-Merican Society (Tall Town) *Plains Militia (Belfield) Army of the South *Dakota Regulators (Rapid Valley) Army of the West *Badlands Roughriders (Williston) Independent/Allies *Rockers (Ellsworth Air Force Base) Notable Members General (of the North) Marcus Williams A rare old soldier in the ANA, General Marcus Williams leads the Army of the North and is a member of the New-Merican Society. The hero of Logan's Folly, Williams was already well known in the ANA before becoming General. He worked his way up the ranks in both the ANA and New-Merican Society until he became General of the North in 2272. Since his promotion, General Williams has served the ANA well. However, his battlefield prowess has not translated well into strategy or tactics during the War of the Generals. However, he is still well liked by the public for his honesty and warm personality. The top brass of the ANA have differing opinions of him. General (of the South) Paula Hopper The General of the South, Paula Hopper is a Dakota Regulator through and through. Battle hardened and battle scarred, General Hopper is a bit unhinged but is actually auite successful in her command, holding of the dangers of Rapid City for years with minimal support from the north. General Hopper is demonized as madwoman by many in the north but maintains a cordial relationship with General Williams through letters. She cares little from the brasses' opinions of her and less of her enemies. General (of the West) Jonathan Byrd Brigadier General Roger Adams The Brigadier General of the Plains Militia within the Army of the North, Roger Adams is a man simply making his way through life the best he can. He leads his men in the Borderlands though, so life is hard and has slowly driven him to depression and alchoholism. Sergeant Major Thomas Renner A Sergeant Major in the Army of the North, Tom Renner was also the head of Renner's Raiders, an elite unit that often moved between armies. He cooperated mostly with the Army of the South and the Rockers and fought at Vault 52 and Yate's AFB. He died in battle against the Canadian Liberation Army at Yate's AFB in 2280. He is fondly remembered among many in the ANA. Quotes By About Gallery File:Williams.jpeg|General Marcus Williams File:Hopper.jpeg|General Paula Hopper File:Thomas_Renner.png|Sergeant Major Thomas Renner Category:Badlands Category:Groups